StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Armand dark movie. about truth and its price, about illusions and the need of lies. the scene - Civil War shadow who represents perfect arena for a kind of story. like many Spanish films about same period, it is an exercise of exorcism. a child front to reality. the fall of veils. the cruelty of discoveries. it is not easy to say if it is a good or bad movie. because the answer is not on screen. the theme, the acting, the images, the chain of symbols, the final are only a circle. a frame. the real answer, one of them, is work of viewer experiences, memories, impressions. Francesc Colomer has an admirable work and the Balkanic layer of story is almost seductive. but something is more important - the large shadows, the heavy air, the powerful emotions, the force of each detail.a film like a string of answers. in skin of a question out of words. only the ash of images. and traces of a deeper war than one from a history lesson

jotix100 The world of Andreu is shattered, as the story begins, when he comes upon a wreckage where a neighbor and his son were involved. The almost unwatchable beginning marks the young boy forever. This was the Catalonia of the post war. The small town, in an impoverished rural area where a drama that began a few years before the initial tragedy, serves as the setting for this tale about the coming of age of Andreu. Farriol, the father of Andreu, has a lot to be afraid. He wants to flee to France, but ends up at his old mother's house where a lot of widows share the space with the bitterness of their lives. Andreu is sent by his mother, Florencia, to stay with his relatives. It is hard for her to keep working at a small factory and tending her young son without the husband that has gone away.In the new surroundings, Andreu, unravels secrets that are long buried. The defection of his father Farriol weighs heavily on the boy. The atmosphere is oppressive at best. School is not a pleasant place to be either. The only teacher is a man who should not be near children. Andreu discovers his father's role in a horrible act of castration performed on a young man whose only fault was to be a homosexual.The well-to-do family of the Manubens, where one of Andreu's aunts works as a servant, are the key to the well kept secret the whole town knows, but do not dare to speak. Florencia's only alternative is a sacrifice: she will let the rich Manubens take Andreu away so he can be educated. Florencia coming to visit Andreu at the catholic school, is shocked to find a totally changed Andreu as the story ends."Black Bread" was the winner of last year Goya for best film has its merits. Based on a novel by Emili Texidor and adapted for the screen by its director, Agusti Villaronga, it presents the oppressive era of the post civil war era in that part of Spain. The story is complex. Seen through the eyes of the impressionable Andreu, he watches the adult world around him, not being able to absorb the bizarre story behind it. Loving his father, Andreu feels betrayed as he finds out about an ugly episode in which his old man was involved, as well as his mother being sexually abused by a cruel mayor of the town. It is Asuncion who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to see Andreu get an education, only to be met with his scorn.Young Francesc Colomer is Andreu. We have never seen the actor, so our impression is that his experience is mainly from working in television, not a guarantee to make a good performer in another medium. The best thing in the film is the Asuncion of Nora Navas who gives an excellent performance as the mother of Andreu. Sergi Lopez and Eduard Fernandez have done much better before. They are seen basically in supporting roles.

JvH48 I saw this film at Noordelijk Filmfestival 2011 (in Leeuwarden, province of Friesland NL). We know very little details from the Spanish civil war, and the period after that under Franco. Our history lessons did not cover it at all. But we could deduce a broad overview from the ingredients that were offered to us throughout the developments in this film. History lessons were passed to us along the line, piece by piece.A lot of characters are introduced in the story, none of them redundant, even the minor roles have their place and cannot be left out. Their evenly dosed appearances were always understandable, never letting us feel overwhelmed. I was very happy this to be different from some costume dramas, where the viewer looses control and cannot remember how all these persons relate to each other and how they fit in the plot. No problems like that in this case.Our sympathies with the main characters had to move from time to time, given new facts coming to light, or new suspicions that were seeded by not-so-innocent bystanders. Choices that seemed apparent at first, changed perspective from time to time. I eagerly followed those new directions, and could not escape from the story line (even if I wanted to). It definitely proves that I got involved in the motives of the characters. Well done, obviously having an ingeniously constructed script to work from.All in all, I found the 108 minutes spent very well. The story has much drive, and its outcome cannot be predicted, maintaining the whodunit tension throughout. Also, the film shows several characters to have a better side, in spite of making a negative impression at first, for instance the school teacher. Reasons enough that the film can be attractive for a broad audience. However, I fear that the "official" announcement text won't work on the casual reader.

rightwingisevil This movie has given me the same feeling of what another Spanish movie, "The Labyrinth" did to me several years ago. The cinematography, the lighting, the shooting angles, the colors are just top notched, but the story itself is not as good as the aforementioned elements. There are so many weird and depressed moments in this movie, sometimes even a bit messy. It seems to me that the Spanish people are still deeply haunted by their civil war and could never walk away or walk out of it. This is a very depressive movie full of symbolism. The bird lover father and his caged birds in the attic. The awkward and always confused childhood of the son, the local police chief, the often helpless mother, the whole family clan, the weird and a bit crazy left-hand missing girl...The Spanish dialog is sometimes too quick to be absorbed and understood even with the English subtitle. The struggle of the poor, as always, fell prey to the rich and the powerful. The adults always told their kids that what they did, good or bad, right or wrong, are solely for their kids and it's disgusting. No wonder the kid finally realized what the adults said were nothing but lies. His self denial, rejection and his recognition in the end was an inevitable result, gloomy and hopeless. This is a very heavy movie, just like the heavy colors in this movie.